1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ceramic electronic component that includes an external terminal electrode coupled to an internal conductor and, more specifically, to a ceramic electronic component that includes an external terminal electrode including a conductive layer formed by plating directly on a surface of a ceramic element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A monolithic ceramic capacitor, which is one of the representative ceramic electronic components, includes a dielectric ceramic element, a plurality of internal electrodes arranged therein, and an external terminal electrode connecting the plurality of internal electrodes.
Such a ceramic electronic component is required to be capable of relaxing a stress caused by warping of a substrate on which the ceramic electronic component is implemented, be less susceptible to degradation in electrical characteristics and to occurrences of cracks as compared to traditional ceramic electronic components, and to have an increased effective volume ratio.
One example that satisfies these requirements is a laminated ceramic electronic component described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-295602. This electronic component includes a terminal electrode including a first electrode layer formed by plating and a second electrode layer made of conductive resin and provided on the first electrode layer.
With the ceramic electronic component described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-295602, because it includes the second electrode layer made of conductive resin provided on the first electrode layer formed by plating, a stress caused by warping of the substrate can be relaxed and defects, such as degradation in electrical characteristics and occurrences of cracks, are reduced. Additionally, because the first electrode layer is formed by plating, the external terminal electrode can be thin and the effective volume ratio of the laminated electronic component can be improved.
However, with a structure in which an external terminal electrode includes two layers, like the above-described traditional ceramic electronic component, sufficient characteristics, for example, a capacitance characteristic, moisture resistance, a mechanical strength characteristic (impact resistance, may be unobtainable. Therefore, ceramic electronic components having further satisfactory characteristics are being demanded.